*NOTE*: This guide is not finished, but will get an update within this week. so be sure to check back on it once in a while. The update will include an ability detail section, an advanced build choice chapter, mtactics, more tips and tricks and more.
So stay tuned :D

Hi everyone, and welcome to my Yorick guide.
I've been playing Yorick for quite a long time now, and when I look at other people play him, or even other guides on this site, They keep forgetting to explain what exactly Yorick is capable of. Yoricks ghouls can do more than just speed / heal you up, and slow enemies. Or maybe they just want to hide their tips and tricks for themselves. He is a very unique, but also quite hard champion to play just right. A bad Yorick, will only use his ghouls for pure damage, and not all the utility purposes they have. He might as well only use his ultimate on himself. A good Yorick though, can completely turn a team fight, and even the whole game with a few good ultimate uses. So prepare for alot of reading, but trust me it will be worth it. Soon you will be playing Yorick... LIKE A BOSS

Pros:

+ Very high sustain
+ extremely good at both harrassing and zoning with his Omen of Famine, Omen of Pestilence and even his Omen of War.
+ Ultimate can change the team fight from lost, to a win in the matter of seconds.
+ Because of his ghouls, Yorick can take dragon without taking ANY damage. He needs assistance from the jungler to take it down quick though.
+ Great 1 v 1 champion, nearly unbeatable early game if played correctly.
+ His Ghouls has so many uses. (Scroll down to Tips & Tricks for detail)


Cons:

- Yorick can have a hard time zoning people from level 1, if they are very tanky, such as Cho'Gath.
- Very vulnerable to ganks as Yorick pushes alot.
- Is hard to play right, if you want him to be better than the other solo tops
- His ultimate Omen of Death can be tricky to use right
- Requires alot of practice before he is useful to the team (but don't worry, I will guide you through it ;) )

Before we get any further into the guide, it's important you get an idea of why we are choosing exactly these runes. As most of our style of gameplay, will be based around our runes, masteries, summoner spells, items etc.


These will make last hitting easier, as well as making your abilities damage more. Your E will also heal slightly more because of this. Remember, ghouls scale off your ad too.

Greater Seal of Replenishment
The reason i choose these is obvious, it allows me to spam ghouls as i want. Once you got Tear, you will be able to spam ghouls all day and annoy your lane opponent to the max.
With your E giving you a ton of health back, and this baby to keep your mana flowing it, no one can get you out of lane!


These are more of a personal preffernce, i might switch them out with something else soon though. I just like the extra magic resist, since my build is very centered around armor.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation
A must have on Yorick! Since we are not building any armor penetration, not even from masteries, this is crucial for our damage output. Omen of Pestilence and Omen of Famine damage on spawn is magic damage though, so of course armor pen will not increase that damage.
BUT, the auto attacks from your ghouls are physical damage, and your ghouls do gain armor pen from your runes aswell.
Again, this won't only increase your ghouls damage, but make your E heal more too.

I've chosen 1/6/23 because Yorick benefits the most from the utility tree.
the 6 in the defensive tree is because Yorick is a bruisher, and he needs to stay alive to spam those ghouls. the 1 point in offence was just for the improved ignite. Since our abilities scale off both ad and ap, the 5 extra is nice early.

The offensive Tree...
Is not as suited for Yorick, as it is for full ad, or full ap champions. If you choose to spend your points in this tree, you won't take the full advantage of it. Even though Yorick do need armor pen, his abilities do magic damage, not physical. He doesn't need crit or AP either. the AD bonus is always nice, but it's per level, and Yorick does not need damage late game, he needs it early. Late game he needs tankiness.

The Defensive Tree...
Does give us some nice stuff, armor, magic resist, cooldown reduction, movement speed and a tiny bit of health. It all sounds great on paper, Yorick is a tank right? He is, but the utility tree just gives so much more.

The Utility Tree...
Syncs greatly with Yorick, it gives us everything we need. It gives us mana, mana regen (which is core on Yorick), movement speed, increased buff duration, a little extra exp (which is always great, but especially on Yorick since he is such a great pusher and can stay in lane forever). Cooldown reduction, both on abilities and summoners, but most importantly health regen based on our mana. And since we get a ton of mana from manamune, frozen heart and even the utility tree it self, it's godlike on Yorick.

So if we sum it up, the only thing we loose going for the utility path, as an alternative to the defensive path, is a tiny bit of health. Since we already get armor and magic resist by putting 6 points into the tree :D

I choose Flash, because Yorick already has a movement speed increase. It's also the best summoner spell in my opinion. Ghost is good too if you need more chasing power, but with Omen of War, Omen of Pestilence and Frozen Mallet, I don't need any it. Also Flash can be used if you need to quickly get away or in range for some burst.


I choose this because Yorick needs that little extra damage. In fact early game this always grants me a kill. When I harrass my opponent I automaticly push my lane, and once i reach his tower, he usually got 200 - 300 health left.
Omen of Pestilence, Omen of Famine and Ignite combo, grants me an easy kill.

I don't feel Yorick needs Teleport, because he has such great sustain, and he can push a lane so easily if he please. Like explained above, Ignite will grant you a ton of kills, which is imo better than staying in lane.

Exhaust is a viable option, I just don't feel he needs this either. Yorick is already a very strong 1 v 1 champion, and should not have problems winning a duel. Because of his passive, his ability to spawn 3 ghouls to assist him in the battle, and even make a clone of himself if needed. That's why I take Ignite instead of Exhaust.

Early Game Goals:

.

Manamune will basicly give you about +50 AD once you purchase it, and will keep increasing as you spam your ghouls (which you can do for about.... forever)
Because of your sustain, you can stay also stay in lane forever, or well until the jungler arrives. Luckily for you, you got Mercery's Treads that will prevent any jungler from catching you. With the movement speed increase from Omen of War, slow from Omen of Pesilence and healing from Omen of Famine, they don't stand a chance. Also, you should have purchased a ward at some point, so you most likely will be able to get out of most situations.

Mid Game Goals:

OR .

I will usually go for Glacial Shroud, as the one I'm against top is usually AD. If not though, I will go for the Spirit Visage. I sometimes go for Spirit Visage even though I'm against someone AD. It depends on the game I'm in, if the jungler is ap and ganks me alot i get this, or if the enemy Mid ganks me alot, that's also a good oppurtunity.
Both of these items give cooldown reduction and some dfensive stats, Glacial Shroud gives more CDR (which we need for spammin' ghouls all day). But Spirit Visage buffs our already OP sustain from Omen of Famine, which is just lovely. :3
In some cases though, if I'm dominating my lane, (which i usually am). I will just go strait for Phage, then Frozen Mallet for more damage output, tankiness and chasing power.
For the newer players though, just stick with getting either Glacial Shroud or Spirit Visage.

Late Game Goals:

.

I will always go for Atma's Impaler first, then depending on which champions been fed, I will buy whats needed. Example if their AP Carry has been fed, I will go for Force of Nature first, then Frozen Heart. Always change your build for what you need in your current situation. Buying an Oracle's Elixir in-between your buys will greatly help your team. Clearing wards near Dragon and Baron, will not only give you an advantage in map awareness, but will make you able to easily take Baron, while the other team will have a hard time stopping you.

Early Game: The Laning Phase

Level 1 - 10
This is where Yorick dominates, his harrass and sustain from Omen of Famine is awesome. even if people try hide in the bush, just use Omen of Pestilence to reveal them. Follow it up with Omen of Famine, and you will greatly damage them. And since people usually run away from the lane when you use your ghouls, you can last hit easily too. There is one disadvantage though. You will automaticly push the lane, leaving you wide open for ganks, so remember to buy wards whenever you go back. You need to focus on farming and not so much on killing, and then once you've gotten your Manamune, you can start going in for the kill.

Mid Game: The Ganking Phase

Level 11 - 18
This is where the fun begins. If you are doing well, then at this point you should have taken down the top tower, and it's time to gank. It's of course easiest to gank a lane with CC, as it's what Yorick lacks. This is actually the main reason you are buying a Frozen Mallet. But you need to also look at which lanes need it the most. Inform the lanes they need to let the other team push, so you can gank easily. Mid game, there will also accure lot's of team fights. Make sure you can use Omen of Death whenever the AD Carry starts getting focused. After a gank it's usually a good time to go for the dragon, and Yorick is excellent at doing so. (Learn more why in the chapter "Tips and Tricks".)

Late Game: The Team Fight Phase

Level 18+
Late game is where people say Yorick falls off. Well that is not entirely true, you see...
Yorick himself might be a little weak, compared to everyone else damage wise, but his tankiness remains higher than most off-tanks. The utility he brings to the team through ghouls is going to be used more often, due to his cooldown reduction. Late game is all about team fights, and if Yorick manages to use Omen of Death on the AD Carry (Ex. Ashe, Kog'Maw or Corki.) It's as good as won. Your ultimate will nearly double your main damage source, and revive your carry if he dies long enough to win the team fight. But Omen of Death is also one of the things, that makes Yorick a hard champion. He has to controle 2 people at once, and he has to time it right. Luckily, we build him tanky enough to make a few mistakes without getting punished too badly for it. :)

- Yorick's ability Omen of Pestilence can be used trhough walls, which makes it excellent for scouting in bushes, at dragon / baron, or simply watching where the enemy team is heading, since the ghoul will chase the enemy.

- Yorick's ghouls can be used for clearing Nidalee Traps, Teemo Mushrooms and Shaco's Boxes.

- Yoricks ghouls count as minions, so having champions like Katarina, Lee Sin and Jax who can interact with them, may lead to some pro escapes. (Ex. planting a ghoul on the other side of a wall, giving them an oppourtunity to escape.

- Having someone with Teleport on your team, makes you able to easily gank someone. As mentioned above, they count as minions, and can therefore be teleported to.

- Walking into a bush and then using Omen of Death, can be used as a bait, but also to confuse and juke the enemy, by moving the clone out of the bush, before he reaches inside. When he chases the clone, this will grant you enough time to get away before he realises it.

- Your ghouls can work as shields versus skill shots, such as Morgana's Dark Binding. This is extremely efftive, as this can completely denie them any chance of getting away or killing you, as well as your allies.

- Omen of Death can also be used to block champion only abilities and skillshots. (Ex. Caitlyn's Ace in the Hole.)

- Yorick can force neutral minions (even Dragon) to attack his ghouls, if he uses Omen of Pestilence near the monster, then letting the ghoul run over and attack it. This will cause the aggro to be turned on to the ghouls, until they are all dead. If Yorick spaces out his abilities, it's possible to keep spawning a new ghoul before the old ones die, leaving Yorick unharmed.

- Ghouls can tank, and even attack towers. So when pushing, kill the last minions with your abilities to spawn them. Be careful when doing this. If a champion is near the tower, the ghouls will switch their focus to him, making the tower switch it's focus to you, once he takes damage.